After
by Swift-Star9
Summary: Renzou catches onto Yukio not eating after he arrives at the Dominis Liminis. Spoilers for chapter 97.


_Title_ : After  
 _Written_ : February 14 2018  
 _Characters_ : Renzou Shima, Yukio Okumura, Homare Toudou  
 _Summary_ : Renzou catches onto Yukio not eating after he arrives at the Dominis Liminis. Spoilers for chapter 97.  
 _Notes_ : This fic takes place immediately after Yukio learns the secrets from Lucifer. I originally intended this fic to be a counterpart to "Cold" from Yukio's perspective, but Renzou ended up taking over the fic.

* * *

"Okumura!"

Yukio snapped to attention, having drifted. Homare Toudou raised an eyebrow.

"Do not make me repeat myself again," she said curtly. "Are you always this disrespectful?"

He was working up an appropriately caustic retort when Shima of all people popped up between him and Homare.

"Nah, ya got it all wrong Boss," said Shima, smiling widely. "Teach just hasn't eaten anything in over twelve hours. He gets cranky when his blood sugar is low."

"Sh… Shima!" Yukio stumbled over pronouncing the name as if proving the spy's point. He cursed and glowered at the double-spy anyways.

"I see," Homare said to Renzou, ignoring Yukio's outburst entirely. "Take him to the commissary. Make sure he eats and gets rest. I will see you at 10:00." She wheeled around and strode away from the two. Yukio's face reddened in embarrassment.

"Whaddya know, Teach. She totally accepted that explanation." Renzou scratched his head in mild surprise. "I think she likes you."

"You…" Yukio's frustration rose, but his mind was too foggy to come up with a really good biting insult.

"Come on, don't think I didn't notice. I did have to follow you for over a day. So, the place to get food is this way…"

Renzou indicated down the hallway but Yukio wasn't moving. Instead, he stood still with an irritating smug look on his face.

"I don't need it," Yukio said cooly. After all, Lucifer had given him free reign of the Dominis Liminis. He wanted to explore a little and get an idea of where things were. He didn't have any time to waste.

Yukio _intended_ to turn away from Renzou. As he sluggishly moved, his foot tripped over a plate of sheet metal welded slightly ajar. He stumbled, barely catching his step so he didn't fall on his face. He glared at the floor as if blaming it for intentionally tripping him.

Renzou covered his mouth trying to muffle his snickering. "Sure," he barely got out. "Whatever you say."

"… Where is the commissary again?"

Renzou burst out laughing and wordlessly waved in a direction. Yukio scowled and brushed past him. Renzou, still hooting, followed, certain that Yukio was about to get lost. Sure enough, Yukio stopped at the next fork, taking a few moments before giving him a look. Renzou pointed towards the right way again.

The place was remarkably similar to the True Cross Headquarters cafeteria. The ambience wasn't exactly dour, but neither was it bustling. Perhaps that had more to do with the time, though, since it was 04:00.

Renzou immediately noticed that Teach was bearing towards the snacks and energy drinks. He could almost hear Rin protesting Yukio's ill health. He also could almost hear Boss' order to make sure that Teach eats. He grabbed two boxed lunches and slyly tossed one onto Yukio's tray while Yukio was looking elsewhere. By the time Yukio noticed, Renzou was mindlessly grinning and acting oblivious, an adequate shield against the world-famous Okumura glare.

The adjacent dining area was filled with industrial grade plastic tables. In accordance with the his employer's usual branding tastes, each table was bland, mass-produced, and a boring beige. Quickly scanning the room with his well-trained spy eyes, Renzou picked out a spot where he could lean back into the wall. He opened up the plastic cover as he stretched. Yukio sat across from him.

"Wild day, huh?" said Shima idly. "I gotta say, you really had me going for a while. Wasn't really sure which way you'd go. Hope Rin's okay. Well… Nah, I'm sure he'll be all right. Rin always bounces back."

He knew he was rambling, which was probably a bad idea. But hey, he was tired too!

Plus... He eyed the boxed lunch with mild annoyance. The food here was downright lame today. How someone could screw up mass-produced orange chicken was beyond him, but the Illuminati always liked to challenge assumptions.

Good thing he picked up dinner while Teach was getting questioned for a few hours. He'd probably have fainted by now if he hadn't. He'd been following Yukio around on his wild goose chase ever since Lightning gave him that flash memory.

Uh, right. Lightning. He'd just about forgotten about what that creep had made him promise to do. Well, he was gonna not think about it. For now, Boss was pleased, the assignment was done, and he could take it easy for a bit.

"Nothing…"

"Huh?" Shima looked up from his eats, caught off-guard.

Yukio was holding up a piece of sauce-covered chicken with his chopsticks above the now half-empty box. He had a distant look on his face. "It tastes like nothing," he softly repeated, even harder to hear than before.

Shima didn't know how to respond to that. In fact, he didn't really know how to respond to Teach at all. Somehow Yukio suddenly looked like a totally different person. He seemed smaller, almost frail. For the first time, Shima felt like they were the same age. His voice was also different. It was weird. In all the months he had known him, he'd never heard Yukio sound anything but dramatic and pretentious. Now he sounded timid. Honestly, it was downright unsettling.

Then there was that look. Yukio stared like he was seeing something entirely different from the honestly-overcooked chicken.

Yukio slowly put down the chicken and shifted the tray aside. Then he leaned over the table and wrapped his arms together underneath his head.

"Uh, Teach?" Shima poked Yukio's arms. He didn't react.

"Are you kidding me? You're nodding off _here_? Just like that? Like a robot? Beep-boop you're asleep?"

A defiant snore answered him.

Renzou groaned. Right. While he'd taken two naps yesterday (albeit one not voluntarily), Teach hadn't had any sleep for two days. Still, did he have to do that here?! He spent a few more minutes prodding Yukio before giving up. He got up to return both of their trays to the front and toss the garbage. He stretched, and briefly considered all the pranks he could do while Teach was out like a light.

Ungh, some other time… he was freaking exhausted. He went off to the room he shared with Lund and Strom. Hopefully they weren't awake.

He wondered if he really should've left Yukio like that. Well, whatever. Starting tomorrow morning, Teach would be no longer his responsibility. What a huge relief.

* * *

"What?!"

Oh sure, Boss was acting all professional, but he could see the corners of her mouth turn slightly upwards at his miserable protests.

"You made an eloquent case for Okumura's well-being. The Commander agrees, and says that observing Okumura further and ensuring his good health will be your task."

"But…" Renzou trailed off, checking himself before he said anything he'd regret. He missed the cram school already. Specifically, he missed being able to whinge freely to the others at the cram school.

"I am sure it will pose no problem given your new rank. As we discussed, you will be receiving a commendation of your work shortly." Homare looked him in the eye. "You will find that monitoring Okumura will be the least of your new burdens."


End file.
